In 1846 Lincoln was elected as a representative in the 30th U.S. Congress. The following year Lincoln brought his family with him to Washington for the beginning of his term. Mary and the boys eventually left Washington in part because Lincoln thought Mary "hindered me some in attending to business." A few months later, however, Lincoln wrote that "having nothing but business - no variety" made life "exceedingly tasteless."
Lincoln's term in Congress was fairly uneventful and upon its completion he returned to Springfield and his law practice.
